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Despite falling wholesale prices thousands of business are facing higher energy bills. Most small to mediums sized companies are getting caught out by not reading the small print in their energy contract requiring them to give specific notice of termination. In some cases this can be up to 3 months. If the company fails to comply they are deemed to have automatically renewed at the new price.

The new price is normally substantially higher than the market price on average 20% more.

The Ofgem consumer panel has told the regulator the cost of going green will be a major deterrent to the take up of energy-efficiency initiatives and the widespread deployment of microgeneration systems.

The consumer panel said affordability emerged as a key factor in the latest round of discussions.

The majority of those consulted found it hard to imagine getting involved with domestic power generation without more support from the government.

Two more of the big six domestic energy suppliers have committed to cutting energy bills. Eon Uk will reduce electricity prices by 9 per cent while EDF Energy will cut its power prices by 8.8 per cent.

Consumer Focus has welcomed the outcome of Ofgem's probe into gas tariff charges by Npower, but question why it took so long - more than two years.

Last week the regulator announced that the supplier has agreed to reimburse customers £1.2 million charged when it changed so-called two-tier tariffs, affecting around 200,000 of its gas customers.

The regulator said it was concerned over Npower's approach to notifying customers of the changes. It resulted in a finacial loss to some households whose consumption was low. However a large number of Npowers customer did benifit.

Many companies are reviewing or cancelling renewable energy contracts, despite the high profile decision by retailer Marks and Spencer to buy renewable energy from Npower to cover nearly all of its demand.

Bruce Horton, environmental policy adviser at Water UK, said: 'The majority of water companies are giving serious consideration to whether its worth buying green energy at all.' He added. 'There is a danger demand will fall sharply.'

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged the government to commit unilaterally to reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases in the UK by atleast 34% in 2020 relative to 1990 levels. This should be increase to 42% relative to 1990 once a global deal to reduce emissions is achieved.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has set out plans to put Britain on a 'Green Road out of Recession' leaving a legacy, he says, that will create jobs, save energy, put money back into people's pockets and fight climate change.

The Plan would cost £12.5bn which could be paid for by scrapping the VAT cut. The vast majority of that money could be spent immediatly, says Clegg, making a real impact on the economy and people lives.

Sainsbury's new flagship green store in Dartmouth is the first UK supermarket to fit Mono draught 750mm diameter Sunpipes in its main shop floor area, bringing the benifit of natural daylight to customers. A total of 85 Sunpipes were installed in the store helping it to achieve its target of cutting by 50% the energy currently taken from the national grid.

Britain risks falling into an energy shortage if the necessary investment into gas storage and new electricity generating capacity is not made urgently, despite the current economic downturn. So said the Business and Enterprise Committee called for urgent action from the Government to ensure the investment is made, so that the UK avoids and 'energy crunch'.

Eon boss Johannes Teysson has lashed out at politicians for failing to rescue the EU emissions trading system (ETS). Anyone who claims Europe is a pioneer of climate protection "should be ashamed", he told the German daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.